Chapter 110: Chapter 109: Blood Shadow Corpse Refining Skill

When Lu Zhao saw his attack had failed, a ruthless resolve hardened in his heart. He could tell that the Tier Two Talisman was clearly defensive; while it could block a fatal blow, it posed little threat to him. Just as he gathered his Magical Power, preparing to activate the Hundred Waters Magic Disc again to unleash a continuous barrage, something unexpected happened!

The phantom of the single-horned beast, formed entirely of dark-red blood light, suddenly dissipated without any warning. The bloody glow vanished as if it had never been there.

Lu Zhao froze. Alarm bells shrieked in his mind.

In the next instant, a blurry blood-red shadow exploded from its original spot at a speed nearly impossible for the naked eye to follow. Accompanied by a piercing shriek that tore through the air, the shadow shot away from Lu Zhao and toward the depths of the dark forest.

"Trying to escape?!"

Lu Zhao reacted instantly, a cold glint flaring in his eyes. He didn’t panic. The moment the figure vanished, the tenacious Divine Sense Thread in his Sea of Consciousness shot out like an arrow loosed from its bow.

This was the very solution he had spent so long searching for in the Library Pavilion, the perfect countermeasure for his situation. The Thousand Threads Technique—this was the trump card he had prepared for Qian Yuan’s high-speed Escape Technique!

Lu Zhao’s Divine Sense Threads were incredibly refined. Their detection range far surpassed that of ordinary Divine Sense, able to extend to a maximum distance of one thousand eight hundred feet!

This sensory range was nearly comparable to that of an Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator! Lu Zhao was confident that no matter how fast his opponent’s Escape Technique was, it would be impossible to flee this range in a single use. Besides, such an astonishing Escape Speed must consume an immense amount of Magical Power. His foe could not possibly use it multiple times in succession.

And just as he predicted!

The blood-red shadow suddenly faltered twelve hundred feet away, as if it had slammed into an invisible wall, forced to reveal its form. It was none other than the Tribulation Cultivator, Qian Yuan. His face was pale as paper, his aura fluctuating wildly. The Blood Escape had clearly taken a heavy toll on him.

’Twelve hundred feet in a single burst... a top-tier Escape Technique!’ Lu Zhao was inwardly stunned. Such an Escape Speed was undoubtedly among the very best of Tier One spells. But his feet didn’t pause for a second. He pushed his Wind Manipulation Technique to its absolute limit, so much so that his meridians ached from the surging Magical Power. His figure blurred into a faint black streak of light as he gave chase, his own speed astonishingly fast.

Qian Yuan had just steadied himself, thinking he had finally escaped Lu Zhao. He was about to heave a sigh of relief—if not for that Life-Saving Talisman, he would have been killed instantly by that last attack. Yet, before he could fully exhale, a familiar pulse of Divine Sense, dripping with cold killing intent, locked onto him once more.

"How is that possible?!" Qian Yuan’s face turned ashen with horror, as if he had been plunged into an icy abyss. An indescribable terror shot through him. He couldn’t fathom how Lu Zhao had pinpointed his location so quickly. Annoyance, fear, and despair twisted around his heart like vines, and a vicious rage flared up, burning away his last shred of sanity.

He gritted his teeth, all the color draining from his face. With another sharp cry, the blood-red light around him surged wildly. Another bloody shadow flickered, and his figure vanished once more.

This time, he forced himself to cover an even greater distance, reappearing fourteen hundred feet away beside a large, moss-covered, gray-black boulder.

Lu Zhao’s Divine Sense Threads, clinging like maggots to bone, instantly pinpointed his new location. The ruthless glint in Lu Zhao’s eyes sharpened. Ignoring the swelling pain in his meridians, he pushed the Wind Manipulation Technique to an unprecedented extreme, increasing his speed by a third and staying locked onto his target.

When Qian Yuan reappeared, his face was deathly pale and utterly devoid of color, his aura enfeebled to the extreme. Activating the Blood Escape Secret Technique twice in a row had drained more than half his Magical Power. He had thought this time he would finally get away, but that unshakable Divine Sense lock descended upon him once more.

"You Bixia Sect bastard! You dare to hunt me?! Fine, I’ll fight you to the death!" Qian Yuan had lost his mind completely, a violent, unholy rage shattering his reason. His eyes were bloodshot as he let out a beast-like howl. He stopped running and instead slapped an unremarkable, pitch-black Beast Hide Bag at his waist.

"ROOOAR—!"

Following two blood-curdling roars, a pair of tall figures shot out of the bag, their heavy landing kicking up a cloud of dust and gravel. A wave of Yin Evil Death Qi so thick it was almost tangible, accompanied by the nauseating stench of rot, instantly washed over the area.

Lu Zhao had just caught up. When he saw the two figures suddenly appear, his pupils contracted.

Zombies!

One of the Zombies was eight feet tall and burly. Its skin was a bizarre bluish-black, like desiccated leather, and was covered in dark purple lividity. Its eyes were hollow sockets, with only two motes of eerie green Ghost Fire dancing within. Fangs jutted from its mouth, dripping with putrid saliva. A thick, gray-black Corpse Qi coiled around it, its aura at the level of the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer.

The other was even more terrifying. It was slightly stooped, but its arms were unnaturally long, reaching past its knees. Its fingernails were black as ink, curved like hooks, and glinted with a cold, metallic sheen. Its skin was a deep, steely blue, as if coated in rust, and its joints made a grating CRACK whenever it moved. The cold aura it emanated was even more potent—it was at the Qi Cultivation Eighth Layer!

This was the first time in the more than twenty years since Lu Zhao had stepped into the Cultivation Realm that he had seen an actual Zombie. In Chen Country and its neighbors, anything related to the Demon Dao was strictly forbidden and utterly despised by the Major Sects and clans. Furthermore, since no Demon Sects were based in the region, things like Demon Cultivators and Zombies had always been the stuff of legends and scriptures to Lu Zhao.

Shock was one thing, but Lu Zhao instantly suppressed the turmoil in his heart. The priority was to kill Qian Yuan. Two Late-stage Qi Cultivation Zombies were difficult, to be sure, and they exuded a palpably fierce aura, but they were not something he couldn’t handle.

"They’re just two dead things."

Lu Zhao snorted, his voice exceptionally cold in the dead-silent woods. His powerful and tenacious Divine Sense Threads surged out like an invisible tide, instantly connecting with several Puppets in the Storage Bag at his waist.

"Thousand Threads Technique!"

The Storage Bag flashed, and six figures instantly appeared before him.

Four wolf-shaped Puppets covered in ethereal blue Ice Crystals, their fangs and claws glinting with Cold Qi—the Ice Wind Wolf Puppets!

Two stocky, turtle-shaped Puppets with thick, pillar-like limbs, bearing heavy, profound-black Turtle Shells on their backs—the Water Spirit Turtle Puppets!

Lu Zhao’s Divine Sense Threads wrapped precisely around the core of each Puppet. In a flash of thought, he divided the six Puppets into two groups.

The first team, consisting of one Water Spirit Turtle Puppet in the center flanked by two Ice Wind Wolf Puppets, charged the burly Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer Zombie.

The second team had the same formation: one Water Spirit Turtle Puppet took the lead, with two Ice Wind Wolf Puppets sweeping in from the sides to engage the stronger, steely-blue Zombie at the Qi Cultivation Eighth Layer.

Lu Zhao’s tactic was crystal clear: the Water Spirit Turtle Puppets, with their formidable defense and immense, steady strength, would act as unbreachable shields. They would lead the charge, using their Turtle Shells—harder than Refined Iron—to weather the Zombies’ ferocious pounces and bites.

Meanwhile, the Ice Wind Wolf Puppets—swift as the wind, their claws and fangs peerlessly sharp, and imbued with the power of frost to slow their enemies—would act as nimble daggers. They would launch lethal bites and slashes from either side, targeting the vulnerable points exposed as the Zombies moved, like the gaps in their joints or their empty eye sockets.

"ROAR!" "HISSS—!"

Upon receiving their master’s command, the two Zombies’ ferocity erupted. They let out inhuman roars and, cloaked in the thick stench of corpses and an eerie Yin Wind, charged fearlessly at the Puppets blocking their path.

In an instant, the Clashing of Gold and Iron, the shattering of Ice Crystals, the roars of the Zombies, and the grinding of Puppet joints merged into a cacophony that echoed throughout the remote mountain forest.

The Water Spirit Turtle Puppets’ heavy Turtle Shells withstood the Zombies’ powerful lunges and claws, creating dull, booming impacts. Sparks flew from the Profound Armor, leaving behind white score marks, but the shells held firm.

The Ice Wind Wolf Puppets moved like phantoms, their ethereal blue claws trailing bone-chilling Cold Qi as they continuously inflicted deep wounds on the Zombies. The Frost Power attempted to freeze their rigid limbs.

However, the Zombies’ claws and fangs were no mere decorations. When they occasionally breached a Wolf Puppet’s defenses, they would leave cracks on its body or even tear off small chunks of "flesh."

For a moment, the six cold, hard Puppets and the two ferocious, tireless Zombies who felt no pain were locked in a stalemate. Corpse Qi, freezing Cold Qi, and Spirit Light clashed, neutralized, and consumed one another in the confined space, whipping up a turbulent vortex that swirled with dust and shredded leaves.

As the battle between the Puppets and Zombies raged, Lu Zhao’s gaze pierced through the chaotic fray like a hawk, locking firmly onto Qian Yuan, whose aura was weak as he stood in the rear, preparing to make a move.

’He’s the real target!’

Without hesitation, Lu Zhao brought out the Hundred Waters Magic Disc again. The vortex at its center spun rapidly as deep blue Water Spirit Power gathered frantically. An ethereal blue Water Blade, even more condensed and sharp than the last, began to form. He would take advantage of Qian Yuan’s weakened state to deliver the killing blow.

As for the Tribulation Cultivator, Qian Yuan, when he saw that his ultimate trump card—his two Zombies—was being easily held at bay by a pile of Puppets and was even starting to lose ground, the last glimmer of hope in his eyes turned to ash.

"Fellow Cultivator! Fellow Cultivator, wait! Please, spare me!" Qian Yuan’s facial muscles contorted as he forced a sycophantic smile mixed with terror, a look ten times uglier than a grimace of tears.

He fumbled in his robes and pulled out an ancient-looking Jade Scroll. "A misunderstanding! This is all a huge misunderstanding! My name is Qian Yuan, and I never intended to make an enemy of you, Fellow Cultivator! My hand was forced!"

He held the Jade Scroll high, his words tumbling out in a rush, thick with the desperate will to live. "Fellow Cultivator! Look! Look here! This is... this is the *Blood Shadow Corpse Refining Skill*," he said, shaking the Jade Scroll. "This is a top-tier, Middle-Grade Cultivation Technique! It includes... it includes the ultimate life-saving technique I just used, the Blood Shadow Escape! And the... the Breath Concealment and Shapeshifting Skill, which can hide your aura and change your appearance! Even... even the exclusive Secret Technique for refining and controlling these ferocious Zombies, it’s all recorded clearly right here! Its value... its value is immeasurable!"

"If... if you can just be merciful today and let me live! Just let me live! I’ll... I’ll give this Cultivation Technique to you right now! I swear I won’t go back on my word!" Qian Yuan’s voice cracked with a mixture of agitation and despair, his body trembling uncontrollably. "You... you and I have no... no grudge against each other! Why... why are you throwing your life away for the Bixia Sect? If you kill me... what kind of reward could you possibly get? This... this Cultivation Technique is worth a thousand, ten thousand times more than whatever paltry sum the Bixia Sect is offering!"

He stared at Lu Zhao, his face alight with hope, as if clutching his last straw.

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